Album Review | Marlowe

This self titled album was released on July 13th this year. Marlowe is a duo consisting of L’Orange & Solemn Brigham. I’m not really familiar with the latter, but I’m definitely a fan of L’Orange’s production. This project was released by Mello Music Group, so chances are I’m gonna love this shit. I think they’re definitely one of the best record labels for Hip Hop. Rhymesayers is definitely up there too. I’m expecting greatness. Hopefully I’m not disappointed.

Cold Open
Lost Arts
Honest Living
Demonstration
Tales from the East
Not So Paranoid After All
The Basement
Palm Readers
Medicated
Eddy Appetite’s House of Definitely Legal Oddities
Things We Summon
Tall Tales
Fred Sanford
Magnificent Slim’s Friendly Tip Off
Mayday
Gone Believer
The Places We Stay

The Cold Open intro is really cool. There are a lot of samples that sound like they’re from old cartoons. The production is really cool. Solemn doesn’t really rap on this track. He says a few words. There are like two bars. It’s got an interesting structure. It’s definitely supposed to be an introduction rather than a full song. It’s still really cool to listen to though. I enjoyed it a lot.

Lost Arts was the first song I heard from this album, and GAWD DAMN. As soon as I heard this shit I knew the rest of the album was about to be heavenly. This motherfucker Solemn Brigham is a microphone murderer. The song is an incessant stream of dopeness. The dude’s flow is so fucking smooth. The beat is really great too. It’s an amazing song honestly. It transitions really smoothly into the following song. The beat on Honest Living is even better than that of Lost Arts in my opinion. The songs are really different. Solemn’s flow is slightly slower, and his delivery is much more melodic. I love the way that vocal sample sputters in. It kind of sounds like a record being scratched. Kinda. I’m hungry.

Demonstration is yet another fantastic song. I don’t know who I’m more impressed with on this album so far. Solemn is a true master of ceremonies, and L’Orange is clearly a well rounded beat-smith. Every track so far has been like a competition. I think this was actually the first single. I’m not sure though. I think it has some of the best production on the project so far, and the hook from Solemn Brigham is really good. Tales from the East isn’t as impressive to me, but it’s still a pretty enjoyable track. The beat is cool, and both of the verses are nice. The hook gets kind of old after a while. It’s a good song, but it doesn’t hit as hard as the first four songs in my opinion. Not So Paranoid After All is an instrumental track. L’Orange is a hell of a producer. It feels like an interlude, but it’s still really cool to listen to.

The Basement is a pretty good single. I love the way the sampled vocals are panned to the left. It makes me feel like I’m actually sitting in someone’s basement for some reason. Solemn has a somewhat melodic delivery. It’s the longest song on the album, which isn’t really saying much. The average song length for this project is about 2 minutes. The music video is pretty cool. It’s definitely not one of my favorite tracks, but I enjoyed it. The same thing can be said about Palm Readers. I think I’m starting to get tired of Solemn’s voice. He doesn’t really switch up his delivery that much. Medicated is a good song, but it didn’t blow me away. However, it did actually get me to start dancing. The following track is another really interesting interlude. Solemn speaks from the perspective of someone trying to sell weird shit. It reminds me of the movie Freaks.

Things We Summon is a pretty entertaining song. The melody from Solemn is nice, and the beat is pretty cool too. Tall Tales is dope af. Brigham’s delivery is less melodic, but he fuckin’ rapped his ass off. The samples at the end of the song were kinda humorous too. The production on Fred Sanford is super dusty; I love it. It sounds grimy as hell. It’s longer than the preceding song, but it doesn’t sound like it’s overstaying its welcome. Magnificent Slim’s Friendly Tip Off is a spectacularly produced interlude. L’Orange really outdid himself on that track. I adore the beat on Mayday too. It’s really chaotic. These guys are the perfect pair. Brigham’s flow is fucking awesome. Gone Believer is really dope. It’s one of the longest songs on the album. The final track is another instrumental. It’s really fuckin’ good.

This album is fucking great to me. It’s one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. These guys knew exactly what they were doing when they crafted this project. I love the consistent sound L’Orange concocted, and Solemn Brigham rocked it perfectly. All the songs segue really smoothly. I’d definitely buy this shit on vinyl if I wasn’t a poor college student. It’s the perfect length—only 39 minutes. This shit is dope.

Favorite Song: Mayday
Least Favorite Song: Palm Readers

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Published by OG Nick Marsh

I am not a music expert. My reviews are completely subjective and should not sway anyone’s opinion on any musical project. I don’t grade albums based on how “good” they are objectively. The score they receive depends on how much I enjoy them personally.
View all posts by OG Nick Marsh